Leslie George Scarman, Baron Scarman, (29 July 1911 – 8 December 2004) was an English

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

who served as a

Law Lord Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

until his retirement in 1986. He was described as an "outstanding judicial figure, entrusted with the most high-profile inquiries and marked by his integrity".

Early life and education

Scarman was born in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

but grew up on the border of

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. He won scholarships to Radley College and then

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

, where he read Classics, graduating in 1932 with a double first.

Legal career

He was called to the bar at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1936. He remained briefless until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, which he spent in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

as a staff officer in England, North Africa, and then continental Europe. He was present with Arthur Tedder when

Alfred Jodl Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl (; born Alfred Josef Baumgärtler; 10 May 1890 – 16 October 1946) was a German Wehrmacht Heer, Army ''Generaloberst'' (the rank was equal to a four-star full general) and War crime, war criminal, who served as th ...

surrendered at

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in 1944. He returned to law in 1945, practising from chambers at 2, Crown Office Row, known since the 1970s as Fountain Court Chambers, and in the late 1940s and early 1950s he started to build the chambers' reputation for commercial litigation, together with Alan Orr and Melford Stevenson, supported by a notable clerk, Cyril Batchelor. He became a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1957. Scarman was appointed a High Court judge in 1961, assigned to the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, transferring to the

Family Division The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

when the latter was created in 1971. On his appointment he received the customary knighthood. He joined the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

in 1973, and was sworn of the Privy Council. On 30 September 1977, Scarman was made a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, becoming Baron Scarman, ''of Quatt in the County of Salop''. He served in the Lords until his retirement in 1986. He was appointed head of the Law Commission from 1965 to 1973, during which time 27 commission-inspired statutes were made law. As a judge, Scarman's career had some controversial decisions. Although widely regarded as a liberal, he upheld the

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

conviction of '' Gay News'' (1979), punctured the GLC's ''

Fares Fair Fares Fair was a public policy advocated by the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party administration of the Greater London Council (GLC), then led by Ken Livingstone. The policy of low public transport fares was implemented in 1981, but was later rul ...

'' low-cost public transport policy (1981) and supported the banning of

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s at

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the United Kingdom. Primar ...

(1985). He presided over the 1972 inquiry into the Northern Ireland riots of August 1969 and the public inquiry on the causes of the

race riot This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on Ethnic conflict, ethnic, Sectarian violence, sectarian, xenophobic, and Racial conflict, racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa A ...

s in Brixton in 1981. He also chaired the Red Lion Square disorders (1975) and the Grunwick dispute (1977) inquiries.

Later life

After entering the House of Lords the more liberal aspects of his character dominated: he was chancellor of the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

and president of the British Institute of Human Rights, and worked on behalf of the Prince's Trust, the Birmingham Six and Charter 88. Scarman was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1983. In 1991 he set up the Scarman Trust aimed at helping young people from deprived communities.

Personal life and death

He married Ruth Wright in 1947, with whom he had one son. He died in 2004 at his home in Westgate-on-Sea.

Notable judgments

* '' Crabb v Arun District Council'' 975EWCA Civ 7 * '' Whitehouse v Lemon'' 9792 WLR 281Lawindexpro: case report
/ref> * '' Pao On v Lau Yiu Long''

980 Year 980 ( CMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II (the Red) and King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) at Margut, ending the Franco-Germa ...

AC 614 * '' Sidaway v Board of Governors of the Bethlem Royal Hospital'' 985AC 871

In popular culture

Scarman appeared in the final episode of series one of the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

drama '' Ashes to Ashes'', played by Geoffrey Palmer.

References

External links

BBC News on the Scarman Report
''(

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Scarman, Leslie 1911 births 2004 deaths Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Law lords 20th-century English judges Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford People educated at Radley College Chancellors of the University of Warwick Family Division judges Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Senior lords of appeal in ordinary People from Streatham Knights Bachelor Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division judges People from Westgate-on-Sea International members of the American Philosophical Society